Ken Brecher has resigned as Executive Director of the Sundance Institute, effective April 30, after a 14-year tenure. He will assume the role of Strategic Advisor for the Institute over the next two years. Brecher's exit is the second major departure from the Sundance Institute in the past two months, following Geoffrey Gilmore's resignation as director of the Sundance Film Festival in February.
Brecher took the helm in 1996, following a distinguished career in arts administration, during which he headed a foundation, a museum and a theater company. "I have completed my work in building an outstanding leadership team," he said in a statement. "I could not be more confident that the Institute is now poised for the next phase of its innovative work in supporting independent artists."
Brecher's primary responsibility has been the Institute's core programs. On the doc side, he was a key participant in establishing the Sundance Institute's Documentary Fund. Working in more than 50 countries, the Fund is one of the biggest funders of documentary projects devoted to human rights, civil rights and freedom of expression, having supported such celebrated projects as Born into Brothels, Iraq in Fragments, and Trouble the Water.
Brecher also reconceived the Composers Lab and expanded the Institute's support of film composers through the creation of the Sundance Institute Film Music Program. Brecher also established the Sundance Collection at UCLA, where the history of independent film is preserved and conserved in perpetuity. The Collection now contains over 200 films thought to be among the seminal works of this genre. In addition, the Sundance Film Festival expanded its commitment to documentary and world cinema film, and nurtured its New Frontier program as the intersection of art, technology and the moving image.
Brecher has been responsible for establishing the Institute's strong and diverse base of support for the $26 million annual operating budget. He has attracted major grants from The Ford Foundation, The Mellon Foundation, The Doris Duke Foundation, The Open Society Institute, The Annenberg Foundation and The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, among others.
Wally Weisman, Chair of the Board of the Sundance Institute, said of the departing executive director, "Brecher's efforts will stand the Institute in good stead in the years ahead." A search for a successor to Brecher will be commenced in the near term.